Youngsters unveil smart IT health bracelet in Abuja

Text by Judd-Leonard Okafor hink of all the gizmos young people like to tinker with. Then think of them all in single wristsized package. That’s what a group of 20-something-year-olds is hoping to achieve, and they’ve plunged into the market headlong.

Orbra is the name behind a smart bracelet which launched last week in Abuja, with promise of spilling beyond the city to capture a mass market beginning with young people.

It is unique on the market for gadgets and information technology. It is the only IT startup in Nigeria with each of its entire six-man team aged less than 30.

Orbra started out in 2010 with “wanting to put the same technology in people’s hands at a very affordable price,” said founder, Ololade Otayemi.

“The smart bracelet attempts to climb into the hearts of Nigerians by incorporating healthful gizmos in a tiny package: it monitors calorie

Tintake, counts steps when pacing is needed for exercise, alerts the wearer when they’ve sat for too long, and monitors sleep quality by night. On a Bluetooth range, it also synchronises with a mobile phone and reports incoming SMS and calls, displays missed calls, vibrates when a wearer gets too from their phone as to forget it-and can emit a sharp find-me beeps when a phone synced to it goes missing,” he said.

Other than hardware sourced overseas, Orbra designs, packages and brands its products domestically, claiming a

To buy into the Nigerian market, it has had to battle initial acceptance and scepticism, which have begun to wane in time.

The team is still unable to get the credit and investors it needs, and relies on personal savings and borrowings from family to have sustained it this far.